Truck Is Repaired & Week Two Final Results With Protected Cargo

Well, as you can see the truck is out of the shop. I actually got out of the shop Thursday evening, I just haven't been able to update this blog since then.
The picture is my actual bill for the truck repairs, including the wrecker bill. I was actually double charged for the wrecker, but caught it before they ran my debit card. CHECK YOUR BILL! The final bill was actually $1402.59. The reason that the wrecker bill was so cheap was because they only had to tow me a couple of hundred yards because the truck broke down as I was leaving the shop Tuesday when I stopped by to see if I could get it in there to see if they could take a look at it. They said to bring it back the next morning, but the truck had different ideas. I pulled onto the highway and at that point the EGR valve gave up the ghost!
So I ended up in a hotel room that night, then called the shop all day Wednesday trying to find out what was going on. Needless to say, they were never able to get it in the shop that day, so I got a room for night number 2.
Thursday morning I get a call from the shop and they tell me that the #1 EGR valve needed to be replaced, so I called my warranty provider and told them what the problem was. Bad news was that they won't cover the repair...and there is no good news!
So Thursday evening they called me and said that the truck was ready and that they would have someone come and pick me up at the hotel. Two hours later my ride shows up! The shop was only a mile away from the hotel...I could have walked!
I get the bill paid, I check out the repairs, and I hit the road, off to Buckhannon, WV to get my load off.
Upon arriving at Buckhannon, I get a call from my company. They tell me that I'll be reloading at the same place I'm unloading and that my load will be going to Darlington, SC. They were very slow at getting me unloaded, and even slower at loading me again, and sometime around midnight:30 I got loaded, strapped down, pulled my curtains, and hauled butt!
I was not ready to fight the hills and valleys of WV and VA throughout the night, so I found me a place to park and layed down until daylight.
Friday I fought the rains that fell from Charlotte, NC all the way to Darlington, SC, and if you drove through that rain you know it was horrible!
I finally got unloaded in Darlington, called dispatch, got my reload information only to find out that my shipper stops unloading trucks at 4pm on Friday and does not start back up until Monday morning.
I am spending the weekend in a hotel in Florence, SC because at nearly $4 per gallon for diesel, it is cheaper to get a room than to sit in a truck stop idling your truck.
All in all, the week wa less than ideal, and I only got three loads this week. The one that I loaded up Friday in Chopin, LA delivered Monday morning to Lewisville, AR. My next load, loaded at Emerson, AR, was the load that I found me in the shop at Huntington, WV. It delivered to Buckhannon, AR. My last load for the week loaded in Buckhannon, WV and delivered to Darlington, SC. Watch for the settlement breakdown for this week sometime next weekend, and titled Week 3 Results.
As for week 2 results, here they are:

Load #1 Columbus, OH to Alexandria, LA
Total Miles = 1020
Gross = $1752.92 ($1.71 per hub mile)*

Load #2 Chopin, LA to Newton, MS
Total Miles = 311
Gross = $531.64 ($1.70 per hub mile)*

Load #3 Fulton, MS to Lena, MS
Total Miles = 453
Gross = $779.37 ($1.72 per hub mile*)

Load #4 Zwolle, LA to Natchitoches, LA
Total Miles = 107
Gross = $176.51 ($1.64 per hub mile)*

Load #5 Chopin, LA to Pine Bluff, AR
Total Miles = 280
Gross = $459.84 ($1.64 per hub mile)*

Load #6 El Dorado, AR to Alexandria, LA
Total Miles = 238
Gross = $368.00 ($1.54 per hub mile)*

Total miles for the week = 2409

Total gross for the week = $4068.28

Average $ per mile = $1.68

*All miles, loaded and empty are used to get $ per mile average.

Thanks for reading my blog. Please share it with your friends. God Bless!

A Close Friend and Fellow Trucker Needs Help!

I have created a new blog for a friend of mine who was in a motorcycle accident in May of this year. In this blog I have briefly told his story as to why he needs help, and how we can all help.
His medical bills are astronomical. I created this page to offer products and services that may be of interest to you in an attempt to help David pay some of his bills.
All proceeds from this website will be paid towards his medical bills. This includes proceeds from ads placed on the website.
Please help me help David and his family!
The link to the blog is http://helpfordavid.blogspot.com/


THANK YOU!

Have You Ever Had One Of Those Days?

Of course you have, we all have, and I just had another one:-)
I woke up this morning in Fairview, TN at the Flying J, then headed east on I40. Not long after getting on the interstate my truck stalled a little for a few seconds then took off again. It acted like the Jake brakes were activating and getting hung up. It did this a few times as I went through Nashville, then it stopped doing it.
I never had another problem until shortly after Lexington. I stopped at the rest area east of town to check things out. The engine was surging, but running. I called the Volvo dealer in Huntington, WV and told them what it was doing. They had a few opinions, but nothing definite, so they suggested I go ahead and bring it in. They did tell me that it would likely be tomorrow before they could fix it. So I headed to the shop only to get there as their mechanics were pulling out to go on a road call. Just my luck!
After talking to the service manager and letting him listen to the truck I decided to park at the truck stop in town and return in the morning.
As I was pulling out of the shop, stretched out across the high, the truck loses all power and stops!
When the tow-truck finally showed up, and the flow of traffic got restored, I hitched a ride to the Red Roof Inn, and here I sit watching Couples Retreat on HBO.
So, today's blog is titled "Have You Ever Had One Of Those Days?"... Well, have you? If so, tell us about it!
I'll fill you in on what is going on with the truck. By the way, Couples Retreat was a great movie:-)

The "GREEN" Thing!

In the line at the store, the cashier told an older woman that she should bring her own grocery bags because plastic bags weren't good for the environment.

The woman apologized to him and explained, "We didn't have the green thing back in my day."
The clerk responded, "That's our problem today. Your generation did not care enough to save our environment."

He was right -- our generation didn't have the green thing in its day.

Back then, we returned milk bottles, soda bottles and beer bottles to the store. The store sent them back to the plant to be washed and sterilized and refilled, so it could use the same bottles over and over. So they really were recycled.

But we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

We walked up stairs, because we didn't have an escalator in every store and office building. We walked to the grocery store and didn't climb into a 300-horsepower machine every time we had to go two blocks.

But she was right. We didn't have the green thing in our day.

Back then, we washed the baby's diapers because we didn't have the throw-away kind. We dried clothes on a line, not in an energy gobbling machine burning up 220 volts -- wind and solar power really did dry the clothes. Kids got hand-me-down clothes from their brothers or sisters, not always brand-new clothing. But that old lady is right; we didn't have the green thing back in our day.

Back then, we had one TV, or radio, in the house -- not a TV in every room. And the TV had a small screen the size of a handkerchief (remember them?), not a screen the size of the state of Montana.
In the kitchen, we blended and stirred by hand because we didn't have electric machines to do everything for us.
When we packaged a fragile item to send in the mail, we used a wadded up old newspaper to cushion it, not Styrofoam or plastic bubble wrap.
Back then, we didn't fire up an engine and burn gasoline just to cut the lawn. We used a push mower that ran on human power. We exercised by working so we didn't need to go to a health club to run on treadmills that operate on electricity.

But she's right; we didn't have the green thing back then.
We drank from a fountain when we were thirsty instead of using a cup or a plastic bottle every time we had a drink of water.
We refilled writing pens with ink instead of buying a new pen, and we replaced the razor blades in a razor instead of throwing away the whole razor just because the blade got dull.

But we didn't have the green thing back then.

Back then, people took the streetcar or a bus and kids rode their bikes to school or walked instead of turning their moms into a 24-hour taxi service.
We had one electrical outlet in a room, not an entire bank of sockets to power a dozen appliances. And we didn't need a computerized gadget to receive a signal beamed from satellites 2,000 miles out in space in order to find the nearest pizza joint.

But isn't it sad the current generation laments how wasteful we old folks were just because we didn't have the green thing back then?


This blog is an attempt to give real information about my experiences at Protected Cargo. This blog was started on day one of my employment at Tango Transport and I have continued to keep it going with my new contract. Go back and read over the past few months. If you decide to come to work for my current carrier then please put my name down as the one who referred you. Feel free to call me with questions. My number is 337-This blog is an attempt to give real information about my experiences at Protected Cargo. This blog was started on day one of my employment at Tango Transport and I have continued to keep it going with my new contract. Go back and read over the past few months. If you decide to come to work for my current carrier then please put my name down as the one who referred you. Feel free to call me with questions. My number is 337-789-7925. Come join the team!

First Load Of The Week Is Done!

Got my first load of the week off before 10:30am. I picked it up Friday in Chopin, LA (pronounced "show-pan"), and delivered it to Lewisville, AR. Now I'm heading over to Emerson, AR for a load of veneer heading to Buckhannon, WV.
It's gonna be a great week, I can just feel it!


This blog is an attempt to give real information about my experiences at Protected Cargo. This blog was started on day one of my employment at Tango Transport and I have continued to keep it going with my new contract. Go back and read over the past few months. If you decide to come to work for my current carrier then please put my name down as the one who referred you. Feel free to call me with questions. My number is 337-This blog is an attempt to give real information about my experiences at Protected Cargo. This blog was started on day one of my employment at Tango Transport and I have continued to keep it going with my new contract. Go back and read over the past few months. If you decide to come to work for my current carrier then please put my name down as the one who referred you. Feel free to call me with questions. My number is 337-789-7925. Come join the team!

Week One Recap Of Settlement

I realize that I have already posted my first week results, but I feel it is necessary to make some corrections as I posted the previous blog before I actually got my settlement check. At the time of the previous posting I was going by what other owner operators were telling me and just assuming that they were correct. My mistake!
The following is my accurate settlement for my first week. I actually hauled 4 loads that week, but only three made it to my settlement due to the fact that my last load could not be unloaded until Monday, and the pay week stops at midnight Sunday night. That being said, there is a $1900 load not showing up here which will make my next settlement quite large. I can't wait to see that one myself, so stay tuned for next weeks update!
Okay, here we go:

Load #1 - Oakdale, La to Bossier City, La
Total miles = 191
Gross Pay = $421.30 ($2.20 per hub mile)

Load #2 - Emerson, AR to Buckhannon, WV
Total miles = 1069
Gross = $2083.36 ($1.95 per hub mile)

Load #3 - Heaters, WV to Springfield, OH
Total Miles = 302
Gross = $555.00 ($1.83 per hub mile)

Total miles for the week = 1562
Gross settlement for the week = $3079.65 ($1.97 per hub mile for the week!)

Not a bad short week!
Y'all be safe, God bless, and keep on truckin'!

This blog is an attempt to give real information about my experiences at Protected Cargo. This blog was started on day one of my employment at Tango Transport and I have continued to keep it going with my new contract. Go back and read over the past few months. If you decide to come to work for my current carrier then please put my name down as the one who referred you. Feel free to call me with questions. My number is 337-This blog is an attempt to give real information about my experiences at Protected Cargo. This blog was started on day one of my employment at Tango Transport and I have continued to keep it going with my new contract. Go back and read over the past few months. If you decide to come to work for my current carrier then please put my name down as the one who referred you. Feel free to call me with questions. My number is 337-789-7925. Come join the team!

Well Let's Just Outlaw Big Trucks!!

It seems that the more government restrictions are placed on the trucking industry in terms of "adequate rest", the more difficult it is to find a place to get that rest.
Once again the government has given the trucking industry unrealistic, and unsafe guidelines to uphold, without mandating laws against unreasonable parking conditions.
The picture here was taken today at a small truck stop in Pine Bluff, AR. In the state of Arkansas it is illegal for trucks to park on state property such as off-ramps, or on-ramps, and now private business owners, such as the one that owns this truck stop, are having to make parking rules like this because their truck stops ate filling up with drivers needing to sleep because of the big brother tracking and detection devises that are being required in trucks, instead of being filled with truckers looking for a cup of coffee, a snack, and a bathroom stop!
Wake up America, hyper-inflation is coming, and SOON! trucking companies are being forced by the government to hire more drivers, pay those drivers less money, while driving slower, less fuel efficient trucks. Not to mention the fact that the drivers being mass produced through truck driving schools are much less professional than those that were graduating 20 to 25 years ago.
The industry is being overrun with government bureaucrats that have a strangle hold on the trucking companies and small business owners under the false pretense of safety. SAFETY!? The latest dung heap to come out of Washington, the current "hours of service" rules, forces drivers to drive sleepy. Don't believe me? Go ask any truck driver, they'll likely tell you I'm right.
Listen up! 18 wheelers pay for the roads that you all drive on, yet we have fewer rights than any other American driver. Imagine if you will, the government mandates that all automobiles will have a $4000 sattellite tracking system installed at the owners cost, then the monthly service must be maintained by the owner. The Feds will have 24 hr a day access to your whereabouts. You will be given a set amount of time that you are allowed to operate your vehicle, and if you violate these boundaries you will suffer heavy fines. Then it will be suggested that all vehicles have speed retarders installed, again at the owners expense, and will be set at 65 mph regardless of your driving record.
People, doesn't this sound exactly like the world that George Orwell created in the novel 1984? What the hell is happening here? Why are we letting it happen? Understand this, even if you are not a trucker you will suffer the same demise in a few short years if we do not stop this NOW!
You will never be able to legislate 100% safe highways. Most accidents involving big trucks are usually the fault of someone in a car, yet the trucks are always blamed. I know this to be true. In 15 years of driving I have had one accident. I was not at fault, but was told by the OK Highway Patrol Officer that had I not been there, there would not have been an accident, then he wrote me a ticket for improperly passing a car in a passing zone. Yep, that's right! I got a ticket for passing a car in a passing zone. Lol! The guy in the car didn't get a ticket although he turned left with an 18 wheeler between him and the road he was turning on.
I am not telling you this to whine, but to say this, I could tell you one story after another like this. It's not a conspiracy, but things are being put in motion that will have an incredible impact on our nations already troubled economy.
Get involved! Go to www.OOIDA.com and stay abreast of what is happening in the transportation industry and see what you can do to make a difference!
God bless and keep on truckin'!

For Those Of You Who Play The Stock Market, Here Are Two Stocks About Split!

Yes I know this is a truckin' blog, but occasionally I like to give out useful information about other topics as well.
I was given this info buy another person, so take it for what it's worth. I am not suggesting that you buy these stocks, I am merely passing along information.

STOCK SPLIT ANNOUNCEMENT:

Rayonier Inc. REIT (Ticker: RYN)
announced that its board of directors 
approved a 3 for 2 stock split.

STOCK SPLIT ANNOUNCEMENT:

Polaris Industries Inc. (Ticker: PII)
announced that its board of directors 
approved a stock split.

This blog is an attempt to give real information about my experiences at Protected Cargo. This blog was started on day one of my employment at Tango Transport and I have continued to keep it going with my new contract. Go back and read over the past few months. If you decide to come to work for my current carrier then please put my name down as the one who referred you. Feel free to call me with questions. My number is 337-This blog is an attempt to give real information about my experiences at Protected Cargo. This blog was started on day one of my employment at Tango Transport and I have continued to keep it going with my new contract. Go back and read over the past few months. If you decide to come to work for my current carrier then please put my name down as the one who referred you. Feel free to call me with questions. My number is 337-789-7925. Come join the team!

Starting The Week Off Right

Started the week off by getting my Columbus, OH to Alexandria, LA load off. Then I just got reloaded in Chopin, LA and heading to Newton, MS.
Y'all have a blessed week!

This blog is an attempt to give real information about my experiences at Protected Cargo. This blog was started on day one of my employment at Tango Transport and I have continued to keep it going with my new contract. Go back and read over the past few months. If you decide to come to work for my current carrier then please put my name down as the one who referred you. Feel free to call me with questions. My number is 337-This blog is an attempt to give real information about my experiences at Protected Cargo. This blog was started on day one of my employment at Tango Transport and I have continued to keep it going with my new contract. Go back and read over the past few months. If you decide to come to work for my current carrier then please put my name down as the one who referred you. Feel free to call me with questions. My number is 337-789-7925. Come join the team!

First Week Results With Protected Cargo!

My first week had some slow downs, but I will be learning the customers here over the next couple of months. All in all it turned out to be a decent week.
What I am going to show you will be a very basic run down, and really nothing official, of my first week on the road with Protected Cargo. As I learn the Company and the Customers over the next few weeks, I will be able to give you more detailed results.
You can go back over the last few blogs and see where all I ran this week, but I will go ahead and give you the run-down again:

1. Oakdale, LA to Bossier City, LA = $500
2. Emerson, AR to Buckhannon, WV = $2177
3. Heaters, WV to Springfield, OH = $500
4. Columbus, OH to Alexandria, LA = $2220
Total = $5397
Minus fuel $2500
Minus Trailer Rental $200
Leaves $2697
Not Bad for a short week!

This blog is an attempt to give real information about my experiences at Protected Cargo. This blog was started on day one of my employment at Tango Transport and I have continued to keep it going with my new contract. Go back and read over the past few months. If you decide to come to work for my current carrier then please put my name down as the one who referred you. Feel free to call me with questions. My number is 337-This blog is an attempt to give real information about my experiences at Protected Cargo. This blog was started on day one of my employment at Tango Transport and I have continued to keep it going with my new contract. Go back and read over the past few months. If you decide to come to work for my current carrier then please put my name down as the one who referred you. Feel free to call me with questions. My number is 337-789-7925. Come join the team!